Marionette A La Planchette Playing The Wounded Hussar

[brandon]

http://youtu.be/COfSa7CFx_c

 

A simple version of The Wounded Hussar (aka Captain O'Kane) by O'Carolan.

 

I have been somewhat obsessed with the marionettes a la planchette as seen in other posts by Alex Holden and Jody Kruskal. This is the first of 2 marionettes that I've made. I'll post another video with the other one once I learn another tune well enough to do so.

 

 

[alex_holden]

Hey Brandon, that's brilliant. Love the ears and the hair style and of course his little concertina. Is he a self-portrait? Any chance of some close-up pics of his features? Completely different performance to what I was expecting, but it fits the music. Interesting that his knees are at different heights - is that deliberate?

[brandon]

Thanks Alex! He is not a self-portrait, but does end up looking a lot like a college roommate from many years ago. I'll be happy to load some pics. He also has a smaller and nimbler buddy who also is not a self-portrait, but is somewhat inspired by Morris outfits. Once I get practiced up on a livelier dance tune, I'll make another video with the smaller marionette. I want to add a woman to the mix, but whenever I start a face, it seems to become a street-worn man for some reason...still working on that one.

 

BTW, I had no idea about the knees! I'll have to take a look to see if they really are different or if it was perhaps a trick of perspective from the video.

[brandon]

 

I took another looks at the knees on marionette #1. They look even to me, so I suppose there must be some illusion occurring with the video that made them look different.

[alex_holden]

That's great, you have a talent for caricature. The hands look really good too. I think I see what confused me about the knees - are they half-lap joints? So in the video we're seeing the outer lap of one knee and the inner lap of the other.

 

I can't quite put my finger on why, but No. 2 looks female to me.

[brandon]

Thanks! It's a really fun project. The knees are indeed half-lap. I see what you mean about the second puppet looking more female...that's how it started, but I wasn't feeling very successful, so decided to carry on as a male, now I guess it's just sort of androgynous. Maybe I'll look at how to make it lean more one way or the other.

[Rod]

Does a Marionette have to have double-jointed knees. ?

[brandon]

Not at all. A wooden toy can be to be as close or as far from human mechanics as one has the desire and skill to execute. I like the freedom of movement that comes with the loose joints (which happens to coincide with my carpentry skills) It lends a ridiculous quality to the whole thing.

[alex_holden]

The two I made recently have one-way knee joints but two-way elbows.

[Rod]

Time to resurrect the Marionette video that Jody Kruskal posted some considerable time back. ( Does anyone know how to do that ? )

[brandon]

I can't seem to copy/paste the links, but if you search Youtube with "kruskal marionette," you'll find the 2 videos of Jody with his marionette that I'm aware of.

[John Wild]

I found three.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqvmME4BWgE

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i85jH8Cib30

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sT7dmifTGs

[Sarah Swett]

IMG_1315.jpgIMG_1316.jpgIMG_1317.jpgIMG_1319.jpgIMG_1321.jpg

 

I took another looks at the knees on marionette #1. They look even to me, so I suppose there must be some illusion occurring with the video that made them look different.

Brandon -- these are fantastic. What great faces! Another whole wonderful world of music and Dance. I knew nothing about these, so am thrilled to be introduced. Now to have a look at Alex's.

[brandon]

Thanks Sarah! It's new to me also and is definitely a whacky art form - that's why I love it. Be sure to check out the excellent examples by Alex Holden and Jody Kruskal in the links from this and a similar earlier thread.